In general, the washing machine washes laundry by using steps of washing, rinsing, spinning, and so on to remove dirt from clothes and beddings (hereafter called as laundry) by using actions of water and detergent.
Particularly, a drum type washing machine washes laundry in a process of lifting and dropping the laundry as a drum is rotated by driving force of a motor after the detergent, washing water, and the laundry is introduced in the drum mounted in a horizontal direction, shows no entangling of the laundry, and has a low water consumption and a washing effect of pounding and rubbing the laundry.
In the meantime, the dryer is a mechanical apparatus for drying wet laundry. A drying object in a drum of the dryer is dried by hot air supplied thereto. In general, the dryer is provided with the drum for holding the laundry, a heater for heating air, and a blower for blowing heated air to the drum.
The dryer and the washing machine may be provided individually, or a dryer and washing machine may also be provided.
The washing machine or the dryer is provided with a door for putting in/taking out the laundry therein/therefrom, wherein the door is provided with a door window for determination of a laundry state. The present invention relates to the door.
FIGS. 1 and 2 each illustrates a related art drum type washing machine having a door window provided thereto. The door provided to the related art washing machine or dryer will be described with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2.
Referring to FIG. 1 or 2, the related art drum type washing machine is provided with a cabinet 2 forming an exterior of the drum type washing machine, a tub 4 suspended in the cabinet 2, a drum 6 in the tub 4 for washing the laundry, lifters 8 on an inside surface of the drum 6 for lifting the laundry such that the laundry falls down from a predetermined height by gravity, a motor 10 at a rear of the tub 4 for generating power, a cabinet cover 14 on a front of the cabinet 2 having a laundry opening 12 at a center for putting in/taking out the laundry, and a door 20 on the cabinet cover 14 for opening/closing the laundry opening to prevent the laundry from breaking away from the washing machine.
Between the laundry opening 12 of the cabinet cover 14 and the tub 4, there is a gasket 16 for serving as a packing to attenuate impact from rotation of the drum 6 and prevent the washing water from overflowing to an outside of the washing machine.
In the meantime, the door 20 is provided with an annular door frame 22 for opening/closing the laundry opening 12 in the cabinet cover 14, a door hinge assembly 24 having two ends fixedly secured to the door frame 22 and the cabinet cover 14 at one sides thereof for rotatably supporting the door frame 22 on the cabinet cover 14, a door glass 26 at a center opening of the door frame 22 for making an inside of the drum visible, and a door hook assembly 28 projected from the other side of the door frame 22 for hooking at a hook hole 15 in the cabinet cover 14 when the door 20 is closed.
The door frame 22, an injection molding of a synthetic resin, has an annular front door frame 30 which forms a front of the door 20, and an annular rear door frame 32 mounted to a rear of the front door frame 30.
The door glass 26 has an edge portion 27 held between the front door frame 30 and the rear door frame 32 for closing the center opening of the door frame 22.
On inner sides of the front door frame 30 and the rear door frame 32, there are seating portions 40 for seating the edge portion 27 of the door glass 26 in a circumferential direction, respectively.
After the edge portion 27 of the door glass 26 is seated on the seating portion 40 at a rear of the front door frame 30, and the door hinge assembly 24 and the door hook assembly 28 are mounted to one side and the other side of the front door frame 30, the rear door frame 32 is mounted to the rear of the front door frame 30.
In this instance, because the front door frame 30 and the rear door frame 32 are in close contact with a front surface and a rear surface of the edge portion 27 of the door glass 26, front/rear direction movement of the door glass 26 is prevented and the seating portion 40 prevents the door glass 26 from moving in up/down, left/right direction.
However, the fabrication tolerances of the seating portion 40 and the edge portion 27 of the door glass 26 cause a problem.
For an example, if it is assumed that the seating portion 40 is formed without tolerance, mounting of the door glass 26 is difficult if the edge portion 27 has a diameter with a ‘+’ tolerance. Opposite to this, if the edge portion 27 has a diameter with a ‘−’ tolerance, even though it is possible to mount the door glass 26, the door glass 26 is liable to move within the seating portion 40.